With just two days left before final roster cuts, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay still cannot confirm if defensive tackle Aaron Donald will make the 53-man squad.
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Donald, who retired after the 2023 season, has been working out with the team this offseason. However, the team is still waiting for a decision, or even a timeline for the decision, from the 35-year-old.
“All of those things are up in the air,” McVay told reporters after the final preseason game. “I wish I had a little bit better ability to give you some clarity, but it’s really one of those deals that, what we’re doing, we’re focusing on this football team. Aaron knows that. If he wants to be able to do that, that’s something that we absolutely want to entertain and be able to figure out. That’s really kind of all there is to it right now.”
The chatter around Donald’s return came in around June, when the Rams traded for reigning DPOY Myles Garrett. Then Donald started working out with the team. Reportedly, he was testing his physical abilities to see whether he could return to the field again after a two-year gap.
However, the decision to play or not has frustrated critics and analysts who want clarity on the situation. ESPN insider Adam Schefter weighed in, noting that the Rams don’t have much time to wait.
“The point now, like you’re coming back or you’re not coming back? Does your body feel like it can handle it, or it can’t handle it? What are we going here? One way or the other,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee show. “That [s**t] or get off the pot.”
In less than two weeks, the Rams have to travel to Australia for their first regular-season game against the San Francisco 49ers, also the first NFL regular-season game in the land down under. Still, the Rams don’t have a final answer to the situation.
No matter the criticism, McVay and the Rams are more than ready to have Donald back on the field. So much so that they have made a backup plan to prepare two roster plans for the season.
“Our thought process has been, ‘let’s look at a 53 with him and a 53 not including him and what does that look like. Whenever a decision is made, if that is the direction he goes where he wants to play, then we have plans accordingly and if not we have plans for those as well,” McVay said on August 25.
It is no surprise the Rams are welcoming Donald on his own terms. He is 35 years old and has not played at the pro level for two years. But he is also one of the best defensive players in the league, with eight First Team All-Pro selections, one Super Bowl championship, and a Pro Bowl nod in every year of his 10-year career.